Door-fastener



E. J. WIRFS.

DOOR FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29. 1918.

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EDWARD J'. WIRES, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DOOR-FASTENER.

Application filed June 29, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. VVIRFs, a citizen of the United States of America, a resident of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and ex act description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a fastener more particularly designed for use upon the doors of refrigerators or cold storage rooms, but applicable also to other doors which it is desired to so close as to form an air tight joint between the door and the jamb, or wall around an opening intended to be closed by the door.

Figure I is a side view of my door fastener shown applied to the door and Wall of a refrigerator.

Fig. 11 is a front elevation, partly in vertical section. I

Fig. 111 is a top view of the presser rod, the bracket in which said rod is operable and the rod operating means.

Fig. IV is an elevation, partly in horizontal section, of my door fastener and the portions of the door and refrigerator wallto which the fastener is applied.

In the drawings, A designates the wall of a refrigerator and B a door adapted to close a doorway in the wall A.

The wall A has secured to it a keeper 1 containing a socket 2 and having at its forward end an inclined face 3, which leads upwardly to the front end of said socket. Said inclined face is adapted to receive an anti-friction member carried by a latch arm of my door fastener, which is adapted to enter into the socket 2, as will be hereinafter fully described.

4 designates a spindle extendin through the door B and preferably provi ed at its inner end with a handle 5 through the medium of which the spindle may be operated by a person situated within the refrigerator when the door B is closed. The spindle 4 has secured to it at its outer end a latch arm 6 adapted to engage the keeper 1 and preferably rovided at its free end with a roller 7 or 05181 anti friction device, adapted to traverse the inclined surface 3 of the keeper and enter the socket 2.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 17, 1919.

Seral No. 242,628.

All of the parm thus far described are old and no invention per 86 is herein claimed for them.

8 designates a plate secured to the door B and having formed thereon, or secured thereto, a bracket 9 containing a vertical pocket 10. The pocket 10 is open at its lower end and is provided at its upper end with an aperture 11 surrounded by a spring seat shoulder 12.

13 designates a hand lever pivotally mounted at 1% in a bifurcated extension 15 of the bracket 9 and provided with a rearwardly extending arm 16 terminating in a fork 17. Said arm 16 overlies the bracket 9, as seen'in Figs. I and III.

18 designates a presser rod extending vertically through the bracket 9 at the location of the vertical pocket 10 therein. The upper end of said rod protrudes through the upper end of the bracket 9 and has arranged in it a transverse pin 19, which is engaged by the fork 17 of the arm 16. The lower end of the presser rod is pivoted at 20 to the latch arm 6 and said presser rod is surrounded by a spring 21 seated between a shoulder 22 near the lower end of the rod and the s ring seat shoulder 12 at the upper end of the pocket 10 in the bracket 9, said spring having a constant tendency to impart downward movement to the presser rod and thereby depress the latch arm 6.

In the use of my door fastener the latch arm 6 normally occupies a lowered position in whichit is held by the spring 21, and if the fastener is in door holding position, as seen in the drawings, the spring pressure acts upon the presser rod 18 to maintain the free end of the latch arm seated in the socket 2 of the keeper 1. When it is desired to open the door to which the fastener is ap plied, the operator grasps the hand lever 13 and by a forward pull thereon causes said lever to turn upon its pivot and the arm 16 to be elevated in an arc of a circle, thus causing said arm to exert a pull upon the presser rod 18 and move it upwardly against the action of the spring 21. The presser rod in its upward movement lifts the latch arm 6 sufiiciently to permit disengagement of the free end of the latch arm from the kee )er as the door is opened. It will be seen t at when an operator exerts a forward pull upon the hand lever 13 to disengage the latch arm from the keeper by which it was previously held, the direction of pull upon the hand lever is a direct one of such nature as will also serve to pull the 'doo rppen, without any twisting or other complex movement of the operators hand or arm, and thereforethe operator isenabled to both unfasten and ope nrthe door by the simple act of pulling the hand lever 13 forwardly. In closing a door equipped with my fastener, it is only necessary to press the door closed and the anti-friction roller 7 will ride upwardly on the'inclined face 3 of the keeperl and become seated in the socket f said keeper, the spring 2l readily permitting upward movementof the latcharm- 6 and the pres ser rod 18 at such time, and then forcing said parts downwardlyto securely hold the anti-frictionroller in the socket ofthe keeper.

'A door fastener comprising a keeper, a

provided with a spring pocket, a presser rod extending through said bracket and pivoted to said latch arm, a spring in said pocket surrounding said presser rod adapted to move said presser rod and latch arm in one direction, and a' hand lever pivoted to said bracket having an arm pivoted to said presser rod whereby the presser rod and latch arm may be moved in a direction contrary to that in which they are moved by said spring. 7

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto affix my signature.

EDWAR J. wmrs.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner vof Patents,

' Washington. D. 0. 

